FRANCE : Pau

Chœur de l’Orchestre Pau Pays de Béarn, direction Pascale Verdier

Symphony Choir

 
 
For more information : http://www.oppb.fr/choeur-oppb
” The activities of the OPPB choir ended on Thursday, March 12…..INCREDIBLE ! …..almost 3 months already !
 
We have kept in touch every week :
 
– Email to the singers every Thursday.
– Creation of a WhatsApp group to exchange information, jokes, recipes, flowers …We were able to celebrate a few special events and birthdays!
– Attempted videos and attempted editing…oops! not so easy at 80! And not very satisfying
– 9 May, participation of about fifteen volunteers in Europe Day via video, singing Ode to joy (commissioned by the Pau metropolitan area). Pau has just been associated with the Eurocities. Again, this was not so satisfactory, especially as few singers dared!
 
A positive point for those who tried the videos :
– They were demanding with themselves, and did many retakes … maybe they understood a little bit the occasional suffering of choir conductors ?!!
– Another advantage for amateur singers, in my opinion, is for them to dare to use more digital tools and not expect EVERYTHING from us in the preparation of their scores, even if many of them already do so !

© Chœur de l’Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn​

 
Other very negative points :
– Cancellation of a complete series (4 concerts) of Dvorak’s Stabat Mater,
– Cancellation of voice training courses,
– Cancellation of the annual baroque repertoire workshopin July,
– And above all, the sad interruption of all social and/or friendly contact,
– The pleasure of collective discovery, of shared listening, of making and collectively embellishing artistic material that has been lying dormant.
 
We will see atthe beginning of the school year if the functioning can be (must be) turned upside down, modified, improved…but in any case  HAUT LES CHOEURS ! “

© Le Deodic David

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